NYU’s Center for Publishing hosted its third Management Forum for Small and Independent Publishers April 15-16, and got an impressive turnout from around the country. Director Robert Baensch hosted the event.
Friday morning was devoted to the Big Picture, and Bruce Harris, who headed sales at Random before going to Workman and now, consulting, gave an overview of where the industry is going. Think religion! Print on Demand! Self publishing! Non-bookstore! And finally, Harris extoled the advantages of outsourcing as many publishing functions as is practical, and used his experience from Joy At Work to illustrate. Jeff Abraham followed with BISG stats, a Bookscan rep presented its new website, and B&T‘s Jean Srnecz did her usual combo of lively and practical advice for using a wholesaler effectively.
Despite the inviting sunny skies on Saturday, attendees managed to fight the temptation to spend the day in Bryant Park clutching their Jamba Juices, and were rewarded with a series of practical talks that has become the Forum’s trademark. J. McCrary of the Perseus Books Group opined about the potential of profitable non-retail special sales and those magic little words: nonreturnable sales. Ann Heron of the California-based Nolo Press, followed with her take on choosing the proper technology for one’s business. With a graphic that read, “Intel Inside. Idiot Outside,” she warned against upgrading systems without aforethought, but also celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit that allowed a company like Nolo to adapt to changing technologies by migrating much of its material online. Judy Hottensen of Grove Atlantic spoke about the role of publicity in generating revenue growth, complete with graphs highlighting spikes in sales for books appearing on NPR, The Today Show, Don Imus and others. Dan Reynolds of Storey Publishing then took the podium to talk about getting books ranging from Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs to At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much, into the non-book retail market. He pointed at the growing importance of blogs like yarnharlot.com in increasing awareness of niche titles.
The Summer Publishing Institute runs from June 5 – July 15.
